An ex-professional footballer who is currently topping the fantasy football world rankings says he is not daunted by his rival for the title – the world chess champion, Magnus Carlsen.

Following Monday’s Premier League fixture, a 1-1 draw between Crystal Palace and Brighton, Nick Tanner, a former Liverpool and Bristol Rovers defender, regained top spot of the Fantasy Premier League, after it was held over the weekend by the chess grandmaster.

“I’m not intimidated by him,” said Tanner whose fantasy team ‘winorloseonthebooze’ is doing considerably better than the six non-league clubs he managed between 1997 and 2011.

Carlsen slipped back to third after his success over the weekend allowed him to briefly to make the unique boast on Twitter of being the best chess player in the world and the highest ranking player of fantasy football.

Tanner was needled by Carlsen’s premature bragging. “I wouldn’t have done what he did and put up that I’m top of the league on my Twitter bio,” he told the Guardian. “It would be like playing a game of chess, getting someone in check, and then walking off and saying ‘I’ve won’. He might have been winning at the weekend but the game ain’t finished yet.”

The contest for coveted title could be seen as a contest between Tanner’s insider knowledge of the game and Carlsen’s sheer brainpower.

Tanner said: “Obviously it is a skilled game and he’s using his brains to get to the top. But I think is more luck than skill. If it was just brains he would be top every week.”

The 54-year-old former pro reckons analysis of player rating data is no substitute for luck and hunches.

“Magnus probably uses all the stats more than what I do,” Tanner said. “I just go on gut feeling, knowing who’s going to be playing and a little bit of understanding about football because I’ve been in it since I was 12.”

Carlsen has an estimated IQ of 190 and has so far successfully transferred his strategies from chess to fantasy football.

Tanner said: “I haven’t got a clue what my IQ is. My blood pressure is probably nearer to 190 than my IQ. Brains won’t win it, it will be luck. If it was just about brains, Magnus and all those like him with big IQs would be all in the top five. But they are not.”

But Tanner does share key attributes with the chess grandmaster. They both have phenomenal memories and both watch hours of English football every week.

Carlsen has an obsessive interest in the Premier League and likes to watch matches in between chess tournaments. “His level of knowledge about English football is amazing,” chess journalist Tarjei Svensen, who has known Carlsen since he was eight, told the Guardian earlier this month.

And Svenson said fantasy football is similar to chess, “it requires planning and strategy. And he [Magnus] has an incredible memory which helps.”

Tanner said: “I watch every Premier League game on TV and I watch Liverpool games on catch-up, so that’s about four a five a week. And if I go and watch a game I can remember every single thing in that game. When I was a manager I could tell players exactly what they did wrong.”

Both Carlsen and Tanner also currently have Leicester’s forward Jamie Vardy and Sheffield United’s defender, John Lunstram in their fantasy teams.

Tanner, who currently works as a sales and marketing manager for Matters Magazines, said fantasy football management is much more fun than the real thing. He said: “Managing is 10 times harder than playing fantasy league, and in non-league its even worse. Try managing a team with no budget, and blokes not turning up for training, then you’ll see how good you are as a manager.”

Asked about his fantasy football tactics, Tanner said: “You need to have a basic cost goalkeeper, and back three, and pick point scorers for midfielder and forwards. And think about who takes the free kicks and corners. I’ve got (Leicester’s James) Maddison because he takes all the corners and free kicks for Vardy to score.”

He added: “Being top of 7 million people is a really good feeling, but it’s just a bit of fun. I don’t take it too seriously.”